IGN had chance to join a conference call with the newly crowned WWE Champion himself, The Miz, about his recent win, the media blitz surrounding it, performing in front of our troops, keeping in touch with his old Real World friends, his legion of haters and, most importantly, meeting SCOWLY!

IGN TV: What was it like meeting and doing a RAW Slammy segment with little 9-year-old Cayley? Aka "Miz Girl." Aka "Scowly."

The Miz: [laughs] Yes yes. The angry Miz girl! Aw, man that was arguably one of my favorite moments. That little girl literally made my WWE Championship win. When I got backstage, the only thing anyone could talk about was that little girl's scowling face, being so mad at me. And as soon as I saw it I thought "that's the exact fan reaction I wanted out of the crowd." And sometimes you don't get that. Sometimes fans see the camera and go "Oh, hey. I'm on camera." She didn't see it. You could see the passion that she had for Randy Orton and how mad she was that he lost. It made my day. I guess the dad actually called, because the next week, in my address, I talked about the fan reaction being one of shock and anger and I showed her picture again. So her dad called up and said that she was more than willing to come back if we ever needed her. So, of course, being WWE like we are, we totally leapt at he opportunity and took the reins.

And just going out there and getting on one knee…I mean, how do you talk to a little girl and then take something from a kid? You have to be so nice to them so that they trust you, and then you take it from them. And then they get really really mad. It was so great. And backstage, she was the shyest little girl. It was so cute to see her back there and everyone told me that when Randy came up to her she gave him a big hug and she was so shy and nervous that she couldn't talk. And then to watch her go out there and start thanking her dad and her mom and her family. And then me, being the big bully that I am, taking the Slammy away from her. [laughs]

IGN: You haven't done reality TV in a long time now. I mean, you're pretty far removed from all that at this point. But are you prepared, or do you expect, to have doubters and haters your whole career because of it?

Miz: Whole career. No doubt in my mind. Once I first got here in WWE, I thought maybe I could change people's mind. Maybe I could get people to believe in me. But every time I became a WWE Champion, they always found an excuse. No matter what title I've won, there's an excuse. When I won the United States Championship, everyone said that I never defended my title. When I won the Unified Tag Team Championships, they said Big Show was carrying me. When I won belts with my other Tag Team, with John Morrison, everyone said that Morrison was carrying me. When I won Money in the Bank, people said it was a fluke. Now that I've won the WWE Championship, I'm a "paper" champion and I don't deserve it. So no matter what I do to prove myself to the WWE Universe or the WWE locker room, nothing will ever be good enough. And I really don't care, because it's enough for me.

IGN: Do you think WWE expected the kind of mainstream media attention that your title win got? I mean, it got picked up by a lot of major outlets.

Miz: I don't think anyone expected it. I certainly didn't expect it at all. Usually, when titles change there isn't that much media, so I wasn't expecting anything. But as soon as I got home, suddenly 50 people that I didn't realize I knew, and didn't know had my number, and didn't know watched WWE, texted and called me. I had voice mails for days. And then all the outlets. Like MTV.com got a hold of it. They didn't even say anything when I got signed to WWE. US Weekly, who never covers WWE, covered us. TMZ asked me to host their show. I'm going on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon. It just makes me so happy because that's the goal that I want. I want people that normally don't talk to us and normally don't say anything to us to come in and say "You know, this kid has something. We want to talk to him. And he's got a good story so we want to learn more." And it legit is. It's a real life story. It's like a movie and I'm living it. It's like a dream come true.

Note: During the call The Miz was also asked the following questions from other outlets

Q: Do you still keep in contact with your old MTV cohorts?

Miz: I get that question a lot. It's funny, because when I won the WWE Championship, I hadn't talked to Coral in probably three years or something. But when I won the Championship – I didn't even know she watched the show or followed me or anything – but she texted me and said "Congratulations, I knew you could do it." And that meant the world to me. Especially when you haven't talked to someone in so long, it kind of rekindles the relationship. We were such good friends on the show, but when I went WWE I kind of fell off the face of the earth with all the "Challenge" people because I didn't see them as often as I used to because we're on the road so much. I keep in touch with Coral. Mark Long, from Road Rules. And I still keep in touch with Ace. And Veronica from Road Rules.

Q: What's it like for you being on the cover of WWE's Smackdown vs. RAW 2011?

Miz: I love video games. Growing up as a kid, Nintendo was my life. Tetris. Super Mario Brothers. Contra. That was what I did. So to sit there and remember playing these games as a child and then to step in and be in WWE Smackdown vs. RAW 2011 – and not only be in the game but be on the cover, where children can play each other as my character as me? Where I can play my friends as me? It's just surreal. It's incredible. Because my friends will come over and try to beat me in the game, but won't let them. Because that would be embarrassing if I'm playing as myself. So if they beat me, it's not good.

Q: What was it like, both as a fan and a wrestler, to face Jerry Lawler on RAW a few weeks back?

Miz: As a fan, it's surreal. Because I remember watching Jerry back when I was a kid. And to grow up and be in his first ever WWE Championship match, It was just incredible. Especially since it was a TLC match. It was my first ever TLC match so it was a new opportunity for me. It was my first title defense. And it was against Jerry "The King" Lawler. So whenever I can say that, and those words come out of my mouth, it just makes me smile. And the fact that I beat him made it even better.

Q: You guys in the WWE stayed on the home front this year and went down to Texas for your Tribute show. What was your favorite part of this special?

Miz: My favorite part of the special is, usually, not the celebrities. Granted though, Diddy is absolutely incredible in concert. He's the most entertaining person I've ever met. Sherri Shepherd is a sweetheart and is great. But the thing I like the most is looking out at the crowd during my match, because I was in a tag match so I could stand on the apron, and just seeing the crowd get so into the matches. That's what it's all about. Whenever you're in these soldier environments, where they don't really get to see much or do much, and they get to escape reality for a moment, the faces and the electricity that's in that outdoor venue is just incredible. And that's what I take out with me. Just the electricity and the fans getting so involved with what we're doing.

WWE's Tribute to the Troops special airs this Saturday, December 18th, at 9/8c on NBC.